[1] Kiyotsuna was also a Shimazu retainer,[1] whose services to Emperor Meiji in the Bakumatsu period and at the Battle of Toba–Fushimi led to his appointment to high posts in the new imperial government;[1] in 1887 he was named a viscount.

[1] Because of his position, the elder Kuroda was exposed to many of the modernizing trends and ideas coming into Japan during the early Meiji era; as his heir, young Kiyoteru also learned from them and took his lessons to heart.

It was at Grez-sur-Loing that Kuroda first began to experiment with plein-air techniques,[6] discovering inspiration in the rural landscape, as well as a young woman, Maria Billault, who became one of his favorite models.

[8] This large-scale work, which was destroyed in World War II, was accepted with great praise by the Académie des Beaux-Arts; Kuroda intended to bring it with him to Japan to shatter the Japanese prejudice against the depiction of the nude figure.

Having spent many long years of study in France to gain mastery of Western-style painting, Kuroda was eager to try out his newfound skills on the landscapes of his home country.

[6] Soon after arriving back in Japan, Kuroda traveled to Kyoto for the first time in his life, and used plein-air techniques to depict famous local sights, such as geisha and ancient temples.

[9] When Kuroda returned to Japan, the best-known society for Western-style painting was the Meiji Fine Art Society (Meiji Bijutsukai [ja]), which was strongly under the influence of European Academicism and the Barbizon School,[6] which had been introduced to Japan by the Italian artist Antonio Fontanesi at the government-funded Technical Fine Arts School [it] (Kōbu Bijutsu Gakkō) beginning in 1876.

[6] His innovative painting style, heavily influenced by the latest European plein air and Impressionist techniques, shocked Japanese audiences.

Although he was awarded a prize for the painting, the exhibition of a picture of a nude woman before so many visitors outraged many, and led to a furor in the press where critics condemned the perceived flouting of social standards.

The White Horse Society had no set rules; rather, it was a free, equal gathering of like-thinking artists whose only goal was to find a way for members to display their works.

In particular, Kuroda stressed the importance of painting outdoors directly from nature (plein air), and insisted that courses in anatomy and the sketching of a live nude model be included in the curriculum.

Talk on Ancient Romance appears to have been intended as a wall panel; as with much of Kuroda's work, it was destroyed during World War II, leaving only preparatory studies to indicate its possible grandeur.

Kuroda was by this time well-regarded not only by the Japanese, but by the art world at large; his triptych Wisdom, Impression, Sentiment (completed 1900) was exhibited alongside his 1897 work Lakeside at the Exposition Universelle held in 1900 in Paris; it received a silver medal.

[17] The result was a hybrid style art historian Chinghsin Wu has termed "Academic Impressionism," which Kuroda thought was more palatable to Japanese tastes and sensibilities.

Kuroda died at home in Azabu Kōgai-chō on July 15, 1924; immediately upon his death the Japanese government conferred upon him the Order of the Rising Sun.

[1] Many students also followed Kuroda in choosing to study in Paris, leading to a greater awareness of broader trends in Western art on the part of many Japanese artists in the twentieth century; a number of these, such as Asai Chū, even went as far as going to Grez-sur-Loing for inspiration.